I began the previous post with a reference to the absence of the art of engaging people in conversation and some might think it a little harsh. Yet when you look at today's journalists it is a sad and sorrowful picture, particularly when they persist in asking the most idiotic and insensitive questions. Take for instance the reporter who asked Steve Irwin's father how will he cope with his son's death, when the poor man was trying hard to fight back the tears and field the questions from the Australian media. Seriously, did the reporter think the majority of viewers had no experience of bereavement and grief, so that they needed to be informed of its effects? I suppose in this age of sentimentality, sensuality and sensitivity this is to be expected, but I cannot help but think that sometimes people are merely scraping the bottom of the barrel.